Atletico have posted nine wins in nine home matches this season, and they trail defending champions Barcelona on goal differential alone heading into Saturday’s clash in Madrid. The match promises to be a battle of two of the top offenses on the planet as La Liga Golden Boot leader Diego Costa squares off against the high-scoring Barcelona attack, which is expected to have both Lionel Messi and Neymar back in the lineup Saturday.

Before the highly anticipated matchup in Spain, soccer fans will get a full slate of English Premier League matches. After Chelsea’s trip to Hull City kicks things off from England, Sunderland will battle Fulham in an important match in the race to escape relegation — a matchup that could feature USMNT teammates Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey. The EPL action will wrap up at Old Trafford, where a banged-up Manchester United squad and manager David Moyes will try to end their three-match losing streak against Swansea City, a side that knocked the Red Devils out of the FA Cup exactly one week ago.

Later on in Mexico, Mexican powers Cruz Azul and Santos Laguna will face off in the second weekend of the Liga MX Clausura season. Due to fan violence, the two sides will play in front of an empty stadium tonight at the Estadio Azul. Another Mexican match to keep an eye on will be defending champions Club Leon’s home meeting with Atlas.

260 Responses to Soccer Saturday: Your Running Commentary

@bryan, Gary Page: thanks for the comments on Club Tijuana-Club America game that you guys posted yesterday on the “This Weekend’s Soccer on TV” thread. Got me interested and I found a game story in San Diego paper. I hope the newspaper continues to write up Tijuana games.

I did not realize the ex Tijuana coach is now coach of America. And it appears both Corona and Castillo had good games and this increases my suspicions that Corona was relegated to the bench last autumn not because of bad form but some sort of a problem with the old coach. I am a huge Corona fan and I think he already is a much better attacker than Mikey-Cakes. He plays older than his age and is fearless and I thought last summer during the Gold Cup he had the look of a potential future captain of the USMNT. He displays leadership qualities on the field, but also, and more importantly, it seems his teammates feel at ease around him, like he is one of the guys, and I don’t think the same can be said for Michael Bradley.

In any case, if Corona plays for his club this spring and does well I would not be surprised to see Klinsmann take him to Brazil. Ditto with Castillo, who I think is as good technically on the ball as Fabian.

It is what makes me mad about both San Diego and MLS. San Diego has one of the few papers to cover soccer with a weekly section and coverage of the Xolos both in print and online. Heck, Darren Smith an afternoon host covers soccer news quite a bit or as much a sports talk show will, and is a Xolos season ticket holder. When the national team plays San Diego is always number one/two in ratings and consistently blows away most MLS cities. The Xolos have seen that and have both a spanish and english twitter feed (only mexico team to do it). Heck in July the game had little to no marketing and it still drew nearly 30k in a garbage stadium. If this city was not the worst at building anything the MLS
would flurish here. Soccer is a beast here and we produce some quality talent Balboa, Wynalda, Dolo, Corona, Arriola, and Hall.

I think it would be great if Chivas were to move south and we’d have that San Diego–LA rivalry in soccer. That’s if Chivas were to get a decent team. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of big money guys in San Diego and none who seem interested in soccer and the City government seems uninterested in adding any more sports teams.

Not sure if you are confused, but you mention Xolos old manager being at America now and that the old manager didn’t play Corona. Mohamed, the current manager at America, is not the manager that benched Joe Benny. That was Jorge Almiron, who was fired after only one season.

Your MB hatred is really ridiculous. I understand that some people might not get the subtleties of his game. 98 percent passing, incredible calmness on the ball, and great distribution are not sexy, eye catching traits. The ability to win and keep possession in the heart of the midfield is where the game is often won and lost IMO, and MB and Reyna are the best we’ve ever had by far in that department. But I know that’s not something that’s noticed unless you’re really looking at the game closely, so whatever if many fans don’t appreciate how great he is. Heck, i was one ofmthe leaders of the MB is overrated bandwagon when he was with the Metrostars. I didnt get his game at all. It wasnt until he succeeded at Gladbach and i started watching him really closely with USMNT that i figured him out. To compare him to Corona or call him Mikeycakes is just being an unreasonable hater, though. you may not appreciate his game, but any reasonable human being can look at his resume and see he’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever had. He’s the first player we’ve ever had playing and succeeding in Serie A. He was a starter for Roma last season, one of the biggest and most prestigious clubs in the world. Outside of Deuce and Tim Howard, we’ve never been able to say that about any player who came up through the American system. that deserves respect.

Michael Bradley is a very good player and deserved to be at a club of Roma’s quality. Bradley has world class workrate, he’s worldclass at intercepting/winning the ball, he’s also a pretty good scorer for a midfielder. That said, I think people overrate his passing ability. Bradley is very active linking up with the defenders however, the passes he makes I would say are average. You don’t see the players getting that much space on the ball after receiving one of Bradley’s passes. I wouldn’t never compare Bradley’s passing ability to Claudio Reyna’s.

I think Mikey Cakes is appropriate. There’s a false notion that Bradley is a good defender when in fact he’s a terrible defender. He rarely takes away the ball and is extremely soft. This has been probably his biggest criticism and why he lands himself on the bench with consistency. I think Americans are fooled by the bald head.

I don’t agree that Mikey (or LD) should be tagged with “cakes.” But, I also don’t think Mikey is a ball winner. He gets dispossessed when pressured more often than he wins balls. He’s good at ball movement. I agree that he’s not a great defender and that he doesn’t track runners through the midfield very well. I’ve stated all of this before here on these boards and gotten blasted. But, I’ll repeat it. He’s Jr. He’s good at ball rotation. But, he’s not Cakes.

Vic.. I think this is a very good assessment. So will say that since he’s played with Roma I think his biggest improvement is an ability to sometimes unlock a defense. And I fear this will be the first thing he loses at TFC given that vision improves with reps at high speed of play.

I disagree. Claudio was neve a big assist guy. He was a deep lying midfielder, just like MB. They both have/had excellent touch on long balls, both great at carving out space for themselves, getting the ball and quickly moving it to the right player. If anything, with USMNT, MB is a bit more active in the attack than Claudio, IMO.

Where do you get that MB isn’t one of the guys, or a leader? As far as Corona goes, why you would try to compare him with Bradley is beyond me. Are you implying MB plays younger than his age, or filled with fear? They are clearly different types of players, playing different roles. The fact that you can even posit someone as a future USMNT captain so early, shows delusion, or bias, or both.

biff is a great believer in body languageand reading minds.
.
For example, if a player scores and it does not seem to biff that everyone is going bonkers celebrating with him for example, then the only possible explanation for that is that his teammates dislike him.

I should watch Xolos more as they are often on one of the Spanish language channels I get. Last night it was KAZA for those who can get it. Every time I watch Xolos they play a very entertaining brand of soccer– quick one touch passing, good technical skill and good movement off the ball. Also, re the San Diego coverage, their reporter who covers soccer, Mark Zeigler, is pretty well informed and though I find myself disagreeing with him fairly often, he is always a good read.

Corona is effective on the right or as a cam. He’s better than Zusi not.cakes. Corona has really good service and his cut ins are really good because he has the ability to dribble well. He also is very intelligent with the ball and has very good and shooting from outside the box

Will add for USMNT fans who like to follow Tijuana, that the San Diego newspaper has a Xolos section at the link posted below. And if you click on the link, check out the story about the Xolos unveiling their new jerseys. There is a video that is hilarious. Gotta say, the Xolos know how to put on a good show.

Listen, if you two don’t care for him, then stop focusing on him. Your like the 9 year old boy who says he doesn’t like a girl but continues to tease her. You can knock him all you want, but the sheer number of posts you write about him shows how infatuated you are with the player.

How would that fit me? I’ve posted one reply to you in… forever. Hardly me continuing to tease you. You on the other hand enjoy going on and on and on about Altidore every single week like a drama queen. Control myself? If someone is being really annoying on the train, I’m going to tell them shut up. You are being really annoying here. I’m telling you to shut up.

Nice try at reverse psychology on me. I love my job and family, and life is great right now. No insecurities for you to play off of.

you could at least respond to the post above that disproves your silly assertions about his playing time going down the drain. sure he will not be relied on at the moment like he was early in the year due to a goal scoring rut, but it is nowhere close to the crisis you have exaggerated it to be.

Well, given I rarely comment on this site, I’m not part of that consensus. Because this is alarming for the USMNT’s top striker. If you’re not receiving minutes with a bottom feeder like Sunderland, there are issues.

Being a sub for Sunderland isn’t exactly “quality” minutes. Going into a World Cup cycle, the USMNT’s premier striker needs to be a regular starter receiving quality minutes. Not serving as a role player. If Jozy can’t break into the Starting XI of Sunderland, what does that say about him or his situation that is positive? Are you actually suggesting that being a sub for Sunderland is a good thing for Jozy?

Try watching the them play before you sound off. They’re a mid-table team in terms of quality right now. Jozy is a regular contributor though he’s failed to bury the chances he’s had recently. His link-up play has been good. He drew a penalty today with a nice move in the box. He ran the CBs for ManU ragged when he entered the game last week. He’s not in the best form of his life but playing top competition and competing well. Nothing to worry about.

I watched the match last night. Corona came down on a bad tackle that I believe resulted in a yellow. While he was able to limp to the sideline, it did not take long for the trainers to ask for the change.It is difficult to say, but it did not look good. Would not be surprised if he is out for several weeks – but that is just conjecture.

As others have noted, Corona and Castillo both had good games. Corona had one bad give away early but settled down. He was the CAM in a 4-3-1-2. He moved the ball well and showed skill on the ball. Had a really great moment where the shook two America defenders in the box and was alone on the keeper. He shot it (left foot if I recall), but it hit the post. Would have been a highlight reel goal for sure.

Castillo gave America fits down the left. Not sure if he got the assist on the goal as it was deflected out by an America defender, but he definitely was key in making it happen. Castillo also had a one-on-one with the keeper but it was saved. Probably should have done better, but the America keeper was good on his positioning all night. Castillo did have some defensive lapses in the second half after America made a switch on their right. Never lead to a goal, but some hairy moments . . . typical Castillo defending.

Gomez was his normal active self. He was constantly working to get into dangerous positions and it almost paid off twice, but that ball did not bounce his way. Arriola came in late and looked rusty. Overall, a pretty good night for the TIJ contingent with the exception of the Corona injury.

My contrary opinion is that Corona should be okay. From what i saw on the replay, a defender rushing back to cover on a Corona run accidentally ran into him and gave him a full body blow, like a player in American football blocking someone down field. It looked like part of the contact was from the opponent’s knee hitting Corona’s thigh about mid way up and that was why Corona was limping off. We’ll see, but i suspect he was just woozy and will have some bruises and soreness for a few days.

He started 70% of the time! When your fight against world-class players for your position on the team, you have to be better ALL THE TIME. It’s a business and they have to win.

He wanted a “home”. I can’t blame him for wanting that or the money but those on here claiming it’s anything other than that need to get their heads check or actually learn something about the game and sports in general.

I’m sure money aspect of it didn’t hurt but stability???? He was already making over a million with Roma so I’m sure stability wasn’t an issue!!! Until he comes out and says why he left Roma for TFC, what everyone thinks is pure SPECULATION!

It’s more than obvious at this point that his move was about money and his family. His career as a player, the USMNT and the reputation of Americans in Europe meant nothing to him.

It’s also clear that he didn’t want to stick it out. He started 70% of the time and was liked by the coach and the fans but felt he wasn’t wanted. I know he fought for it in other leagues but not on equally good teams, nor with world-class players. I really get the feeling he just didn’t want to fight for it anymore, which is terrible. At that level, you have to give 150% and always be better than the guy next to you. It’s a business first, and don’t you forget it.

He cashed out at his peak. He has lost much of my respect, but it matters not. The results will show up with the USMNT in Brazil and you will all eat crow for thinking that moving from a top 4 team, in a top 4 league, playing with world-class players, starting 70% of the time, living in one of the best cities in the world while making good money to Toronto, which has no talent, on the field or off of it, and has more ties and loses in it’s entire history than wins in a sub-par league.

You can’t ignore the facts despite your emotions. It had nothing to do with football.

Go screw you blowhard. MB doesn’t give a sh** if he has some keyboard Hero’s respect. MB was good enough to play at Roma but wasn’t getting the time (wasn’t playing 70% of the time. Maybe 25%) and in a WC year it’s about getting on the field and fitness. To suggest he quit shows that you’ve never played at a competitive level and are just a pathetic fatso sitting behind a monitor.

don’t tell us about what smarty pants? That MB took the money? we all know that, and unless you re somehow independently wealthy you would have too. the cool thing is he was wanted by teams in the big euro leagues and he CHOSE to come home and take the money.

Mikey is a professional player. All these guys are. Messi and Ronaldo do not play for free. So to say he went for the money as if that was an insult is wide of the mark.

If Bradley had gone to the NASL or the USL (two minor leagues) for this contract then yeah, he went just for the money.

But he went to TFC where he is guaranteed playing time and will have a couple of months to try to maintain his form for the World Cup. And at this point in his career performing well in the World Cup seems to be more of a priority than performing well in the Champions League, where Roma are unlikely to make noise anyway.

In terms of Brazil, the best thing would have been for him to stay at Roma and play a lot. But it seems Mikey, who should know better than anyone, felt Roma had deemed him expendable Now unless Mikey is a lot stupider than I think he is, with Brazil coming up, he went into this season with Roma pushing to get as much PT as possible. Instead he gets hurt, sees his pt drop and sees Roma bring in more competition for his place. Now injuries always happen and new guys sometimes don’t work out but that has to be balanced against the evidence of the first half and the fact that Roma were willing to let him go.

The evidence is that Roma were very unlikely to give him what he needed in terms of PT for Brazil. I see it as a very close decision but one where only a complete idiot would have stayed.

Then there is the money. Apparently a guaranteed 6.5 million/year. Mikey makes about 1 million per now. He is 26 which is veteran years for him and he is not ever going to get a better offer. There are arguably better midfielders in the EPL who will make less.

I would argue his European dreams are not over. If he has a good World Cup he will make an impression. He is already very well thought off in Italy and I see him coming back to Serie A when he is 30 if he in good form. The Italians appreciate older players.

Mikey is a professional player. All these guys are. Messi and Ronaldo do not play for free. So to say “he went for the money” as if that was an insult is wide of the mark.
If Bradley had gone to the NASL or the USL (two minor leagues) for this contract then yeah, he went just for the money.
But he went to TFC where he is guaranteed playing time and will have a couple of months to try to maintain his form for the World Cup. And at this point in his career performing well in the World Cup seems to be more of a priority than performing well in the Champions League, where Roma are unlikely to make noise anyway.
In terms of Brazil, the best thing would have been for him to stay at Roma and play a lot. But Mikey, who should know better than anyone, felt that was not going to happen. Now unless Mikey is a lot stupider than I think he is, with Brazil coming up, went into this season with Roma pushing to get as much PT as possible. Instead he gets hurt, sees his PT drop and sees Roma bring in more competition for his place. Injuries always happen and new guys sometimes don’t work out but that has to be balanced against the evidence of the first half and the fact that Roma were willing to let him go.
To an outsider, the evidence is that Roma were very unlikely to give Mikey the PT he needed to prep for Brazil. I see it as a very close decision but one where only a person of poor judgment would have stayed.
Then there is the money. Apparently a guaranteed 6.5 million/year. Mikey makes about 1 million per now. He is 26 which is veteran years for him and he is not ever going to get a better offer. There are arguably better midfielders in the EPL who will make less.
His European dreams are not necessarily over. If he has a good World Cup he will make an impression. He is already very well thought off in Italy and I see him coming back to Serie A when he is 30 if he in good form. The Italians appreciate older players.

Not to offend MLS or supporters, but we definitely “need” players in Europe. We need our best boys fighting for big clubs, fighting to get even 10mins there. You don’t play at a Roma or Spurs and expect it to be easy. There will always be competition. Roma and Spurs (last season) close to CL. That is a reason to stay and not leave even if it’s hard. Don’t run off to MLS for $6.5 million a year and say it’s a “fantastic move upward for the league”.

Bradley/Dempsey came home for the money. Yes MLS is a different league than 5 years ago but we’re still taking baby steps. If Messi/Ronaldo joined MLS for say 50 million a year, that would be a positive sign for the league but ultimately it’s just cause of the $$$$$$$

I wish both Bradley and Dempsey stayed in Europe. Join a new club. Our numbers need to be growing in Europe, not dwindling.

the “we must have our players fighting for minutes in Europe” idea is a myth.

some players will decide that they need to push themselves in Europe. some will decide that they need to pouch themselves in MLS. what is the difference between pushing yourself to get minutes and pushing yourself to be an all-star/team leader? the key is that they are challenged. the challenge of MLS is plenty for every player in world outside of the top 20 players or so.

And, so what’s your point?? Badley nor any other USMNT player aren’t living their lives to please the people that comment on this thread. Continuing to assume why he left Roma is doing you a disservice sir!

Aww poor baby hides behind cliches and a fake name while bashing players he just wishes he could live up to all while, let me guess, working at a job you hate knowing if you could have tried a bit harder you could have made it in your passion, so instead you trash people that were successful in the thing they love all to make you feel better. It is you my friend who has the issues. That’s why you post under a pseudonym, so no one will realize your true failures in life.

It has always been my belief that in a situation like this, unless you have lived his life or are intimately acquainted with it, you are in no position to judge his actions. How would you like to be second guessed by other people who have no idea what is going on in your life? I would have preferred for Bradley to stay in Europe and develop into a star, but it is not my life to live. He did nothing illegal, immoral, or unethical. I would guess it is a decision he gave a lot of thought to. He has secured his family’s future for basically forever by making this move and who can gainsay that?

You’re seriously deluded. He was being squeezed out at Roma, and this is a WC year. Of course I’d rather see him at a top European side, but he’s going to make more than $6M/yr now, when he was earning $1M. That ends all talk.

He’s still young. He can go back to Europe in a couple of years while still in his prime if he wants.

Ask yourself, could you have turned down $40 million dollars guaranteed?
Basically (unless you are Allen Iverson-like stupid with that cash) this means that you don’t have to worry about money for the rest of your life.

In addition, how many DMs, even on top teams, make 6.5 mil a year, unless they are DDR, Busquets, etc. and as much as we all love Bradley, very difficult for him to get those wages in Europe even if he kills it for the next few years.

I would find it hard to believe that Bradley had other offers besides clubs in Serie A. He couldn’t hack it in England or Germany so there was likely no way he was going back there and mentioning Spain is laughable. Maybe Scotland and the Netherlands are more like it.

Hoping for a Fulham win with Dempsey getting the winner. I could care less about Sunderland if Jozy isn’t playing as they are a horrible team to watch. Fletcher will most likely lay another goose egg (yet the English fans and media will praise him as something special with his total of 3 goals).

Oh look, Adam Johnson running in circles and out of play again – he’s a fantastic player!!! He might even cross the ball once a game instead of shooting into the stands!!

Sunderland needs to be relegated for putting this garbage on the field.

completely agree on EPL announcers being down on the yanks- Tim Howard makes a huge save and the announcers say he was well positioned and made more of it than he needed to; Joe Hart dives to his right and he is Lev Yashin returned

Kingsly, I have to disagree. Several weeks back there was a “sitter” that Jozy missed because it bounced up in front of him before reaching his foot as full speed and this place went crazy saying he should have scored it. To me that wasn’t even a sitter because of the dynamics of the ball movement. If we can blame Jozy, we can blame Fletcher for missing!!

We can judge him out of spite but that wasn’t a full blown chance on the level of Jozy’s misses. And really I wanna point to Double digits post; 3 seasons of double digit scoring on relegation fighting teams for Fletcher. He’s going to have the full confidence of the manager regardless of how we measure the two up because of his credentials and for whatever reason, Sunderland has played better with him out there the last few games

Heck of a goal from Johnson actually – now the British Press will be calling for him to go to the World Cup. I look at Johnson as the exact problem with the English National Team. I think he played for Boro and was transferred to Man City where he rotted away. Sort of like Scott Sinclair who played brilliant for Swansea and is now loaned to West Brom by way of Man City.

Maybe a team like Sunderland should just buy all the rotting away on the bench English talent from the top 4 sides and make a mini national team.

Exactly. Ppl hated on me for claiming he would be sat in October if he kept messing up and I was labeled a Jozy hater. Lol, no it’s just obvious to me that they would turn to Fletcher over Altidore if isn’t going to score.

And to hell with really. I mean if ppl are going to make the argument that Bradley has learned “as much as he can in Europe” (bull s**t), well then the same can be said for Jozy. Bring him to MLS and have him get some playing time and be fit.

You should have seen the comments the other day. Totally clueless fools writing about how Bradley going to Toronto from Roma was A GOOD THING and that Jozy wasn’t going to get himself stuck on the bench.

Jozy is in MAJOR trouble. Bradley is going to get worse, not better in the MLS and the USMNT is going to suffer for it. I kind of hope, in my heart of hearts, that JK punishes him for the move. Call him up but sit him for Mix and Sacha in the middle. JK did call for players stepping up their games. In other words going to Europe, not the other way around!

I can’t wait for those on here to eat crow. Big, fat, black, disgusting crow IN THE FACE!!

It sounds like you would prefer to see MB punished and do poorly just so you can feel vindicated. You certainly don’t live up to your screen name and should be ashamed of your comments. When I disagree with something in such a situation, I will make a prediction and then say I hope I am proven wrong. You are showing yourself to be rather petty and small minded.

not to mention, when you declared that jozy would lose all of his playing time weeks ago, you were dead wrong. the crow is all yours. this was the first game where he was rested and did not start. now, we will see if he can get his spot back over the next couple of weeks. go root for mexico

so much drama. it’s always the “I told you so” posters, the ones who come here for that. they distort and exaggerate, then say ‘I told you so”

People understand Bradley’s move. Only the dense cannot.

the guys eating crow are the ones who said Jozy was done months ago in October and post the same thing 50 times here every weekend, like your player Kingsly (just his latest name), although just today Jozy was in the middle of two goals for Sunderland in 25 minutes of game (no comment from him on that cuz he cannot say ‘I told you so’)

I don’t know what your experience is but crows are rarely fat, are a mixture of purple and black and are far from disgusting. They are actually quite intelligent.

“I kind of hope, in my heart of hearts, that JK punishes him for the move. Call him up but sit him for Mix and Sacha in the middle.”

That would be hypocritical, not to mention stupid, of JK. He has said that it is important for his guys to be playing regularly at this point. JK should be mad at Edu or Parkhurst who don’t seem to be doing much to engineer a move to get PT when it seems clear it is not happening where they are. I tell you what though, if JK thinks BB can’t cut it, he won’t pull some immature stunt. He’ll simply not call him in.
JK is no fool and he can see that Mikey is now MB20-30 not MB90. So while playing regularly for Roma would be the best it is clear that isn’t likely to happen.

JK has the January camp to bring BB in and run him through his paces. If he isn’t up to it then he can drop him. A fit MB90 in good form would be great but if he is now MB 20 then the USMNT will be forced to step it up so it’s good that the USMNT have time to work up Mikey’s replacement.

Either way at least JK has time to address this if it is a problem. And Mikey should certainly have a fire lit under him to prove all you f===ers wrong, as he would put it.
.

He might of well have. Don’t mess with what works. Their winning when he’s out their with him. He’s a vet brings confidence to everyone else and the confidence of the team because he doesn’t have any self doubt You don’t see John O’Shea barking orders at him. In fact they converse with him on decisions frequently

I played soccer for about 15 years at various levels. The most fun i had was playing with a “team” even if we lost. I despised playing on those teams where we won cups and leagues but only one guy was responsible for it all. Taarabt reminds me of that guy

Am I missing something or didn’t Jozy just start a game last week? People need relax. Squad rotations are common in all leagues, so for the Jozy haters to continue to diminish his standing and chances with the team is laughable! I guess you can continue to speculate, because that’s really all it is!

my point was that how good a given team is shouldn’t have anything to do with madden chin’s comment.

if he’s going to propose a general statement of how a coach makes decisions, it should work the same for dc united, sunderland, madrid, or river plate.

which led to my ‘alonso’ statement: you can relate two players of greatly differing ability due to the fact that they play the same position. anyone who balks at the difference in ability doesn’t get the point of the analogy.

On the other side, Fletcher hasn’t done anything to contribute to the play as far as I can see. Maybe he making some runs I can’t see, but really its been two week foul calls that lead to nice set pieces. Johnson’s shot was nice, and a good pass to key. But he hasn’t really done much in the run of play. But the announcers talk as if he is the English Ronaldo.

Not sure if anyone else has said this, but Sunderland could be playing Fletcher to put him on display for sale. Lots of talk about him being sold, and Jozy seems to be more of the manager’s style of forward.

Kingsley, you ARE a hater. You need to own it. You grossly exaggerate anything that might reflect poorly on him and when he contributes to goals and plays well, you find some twisted way to minimize his impact. You need to look in the mirror and own it.

Neither seem a huge threat to score. Jozy still seems unconfident shooting. Fletcher is getting the nod starting EPL games right now. I’m not mad at that. Jozy is getting his chance in Cup games.

Saying Jozy is getting “benched” or that Fletcher is burring him on the roster is a bit harsh. Poyet is waiting for one of them to establish themselves as the starter. Don’t think either are playing to their potential right now.

Poyet seems to be rotating them pretty evenly. I cant be too upset if Fletcher gets a slight edge. He was a 12M pound transfer, after all, nearly twice Jozy’s fee. He also has a very good track record of scoring in the BPL, something Jozy doesn’t have yet. I disagree about today, though. Jozy had his hand in 2 goals in 28 minutes, fletcher did nothing in 65. Jozy was much more effective today.

Decent return showing promise. Maintained good possession and distribution. Had a goal disallowed for good cause. Had one decent opportunity go over the bar, one weakly taken shot that Berba should have followed into the net. Not a bad first EPL return after a long layoff.

Would have been interesting to see if S’land was up 3-1 and Johnson didn’t have a chance for a hat trick, maybe Poyet would have let Jozy take the penalty to get him going. But you have to give the ball to Johnson if he can make it for the trick.

I think that a rule change they should make is that the player getting the penalty is the one who has to take the penalty kick; like a basketball player getting fouled and taking the foul shots. I think it would be both more interesting and more just. In this case it was understandable that they wanted Johnson to get the hat trick.

• Gives defenders an incentive to hurt attackers so badly that they cannot make the penalty
• Not every player, see Dempsey, Clint, is comfortable taking penalties. Think of the Shaq attack and how teams fouled Shaq constantly because he could not make free throws.

Leaving the rule as it is allows the advantage to remain with the injured party.

This fulham radio guy called Dempsey not up to speed and looking like a shadow of his former self. Then hen jozy drew the penalty he was disgusted, saying that our boy wasn’t even a half decent striker…. and he’s ‘not even good to be honest’ yeesh

Yes, Jozy went down pretty easily as he slipped a little bit on his last cut. However, he beat the defender and it was a clumsy challenge. If defender wasn’t there, Jozy may have gotten a shot off. I’m sure he would have blown said shot because he was recovering from a slip, but in the end I do think he had the defender beat (although there were two more right behind him).

Defoe comes on to a rousing reception from Spurs fans and puts one in the back of the net for a 2-0 win – TFC fans must be happy and there are a number of Spurs fans wondering why Defoe hasn’t been playing – i think it’s around 10 goals for him so far this year – i’d say with Bradley, DeRO, Gilberto and Defoe TFC will be scoring some goals that were lacking last year….

As an athlete/good teammate, does it ever go through Adam Johnson’s head that “I’ll let Jozy take this PK. He earned it. He’s struggling to get on the scoresheet. We’re already up 3-1. Maybe it’ll benefit the TEAM in the long run in our fight to stay up.”

I realize he was sitting on a brace and wanted his hat trick, but I think a good teammate would’ve deferred to Jozy.

But this is coming from an overly sensitive fan who appreciates humility more than most. There is nothing that gives me more satisfaction than a guy scoring a goal, grabbing the assist man, and pointing at said assist man and encouraging the crowd to give him the plaudits..